Cirque d'hiver

Located in the heart of Paris, between the Place de la République and the Place de la Bastille, at the edge of the historical Marais, the Cirque d’Hiver is the world’s oldest extant circus building. It is also the world’s oldest circus still in activity: It opened its doors in 1852. Its address, at 110 rue Amelot, may seem inconspicuous, but at that precise point, the rue Amelot opens onto the Boulevard du Temple through the small Place Pasdeloup: The Cirque d’Hiver is therefore quite noticeable, practically "on the Boulevards." The Cirque d’Hiver (literally, the winter circus ) was built for circus entrepreneur Louis Dejean (1786-1879) to serve as his circus company’s winter home. Dejean already managed the Cirque des Champs-Elysées in the fashionable Jardins des Champs-Elysées , which he kept open from May through October. Up to 1846, his main establishment had been the Cirque Olympique&action=edit&redlink=1 "Cirque Olympique (Paris) (page does not exist)") , located some five hundred yards from his new circus, on the portion of the Boulevard du Temple that disappeared in 1862, during the renovation of Paris by the Baron Haussmann, to give room to the present Place de la République. Dejean had sold his old Cirque Olympique in 1847; although it had been built only twenty years earlier (in 1827), it had already lost its appeal and was not practical anymore. Like many circus buildings of its generation, it had been designed with both a circus ring and a full theater stage, and consequently, it was easy for its new owners to transform it into a legitimate theater, the Théâtre du Cirque Olympique . With no permanent home in the winter, Dejean had taken to sending his troupe abroad, to London or Berlin, for the winter season. Although these forays into foreign lands had proved successful enough, having a new winter base in Paris still made more sense. Thus, Dejean asked Jacques-Ignace Hittorff (born Jakob-Ignaz Hittorff in Köln, Germany – 1792-1867), the City of Paris’s Chief Architect, to design the plans for a new circus. Hittorf had already built the Cirque des Champs-Elysées for Dejean, as well as its twin counterpart, the Panorama (today Théâtre du Rond-Point), which were part of the master plan for the renovation of the Chanps-Elysées gardens in the 1840s. Hittorff had also supervised the redesign of the Place de la Concorde (notably with the addition of his own monumental fountain, La Fontaine des Mers ) and he would later build Paris’s Gare du Nord, the twelve hôtels particuliers (townhouses) that surround the Arc de Triomphe on the Place de l'Étoile, and many other "classic revival" pieces of work—a style of which he was one of the most influential proponents. In the 1850s, on the area where the Place de la République stands today, the Boulevard du Temple arched and widened into a section that was popularly known as the Boulevard du Crime —for the many crimes committed onstage every night in the melodramas that were the main fare of the Boulevard’s numerous theaters. With its alignment of theaters, cafés-chantants, and other popular attractions, the Boulevard du Crime was the heart of Paris’s entertainment district, a favorite destination for Parisians and visitors alike. The piece of land Dejean was able to secure was situated at the eastern end of that section of the Boulevard du Temple, just before it became the Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire. Although the location looked like an afterthought in regard to the Boulevard du Crime itself, it was still a prime one. Yet the empty lot was far from ideal: it had very little depth, and was below street level. The place had to be leveled, and its lack of depth would prevent Hittorff from building the vast foyer that would have been expected for such a large amphitheater. Nonetheless, the circus Hittorff began to build on April 15, 1852 was spectacular in many ways. It was a regular icosagon (a twenty-sided polygon), 42 meters (138’6”) in diameter, with a cupola reaching